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Fane Lozman Report Article One

The Fane Lozman Reports

RIVIERA BEACH WATER SUPPLY CONTAMINATED! CITY FINED $35,000 FOR FAILING TO WARN PUBLIC AND CITY MANAGER SUSPENDED!IN OTHER NEWS, CEDRICK THOMAS GETS A GUN AND BADGE!

I. TAINTED WATER!

The intestinal distress that has hit Riviera Beach residents for years, and the accompanying excessive use of toilet paper, has been finally solved. This quiet shit storm has finally exploded into the “largest public water concern in Palm Beach County in the last decade” according to the Palm Beach County Department of Health! Our friends at WPTV, Channel 5, broke the story that the City had failed to notify its residents of bacteria levels four times the State and Federal limits, in the City’s water supply. Apparently equipment to inject chlorine disinfectant into the water was rundown and inoperative. There were dozens of areas around the City that tested for insufficient levels of disinfectant, with some areas reportedly having absolutely ZERO chlorine.

City Manager Ruth Jones and City Attorney Pamala Ryan were aware of the water contamination issues, after having been personally briefed by the Riviera Beach Water Utility Director Lou Aurigemma. Jones and Ryan failed to inform the public and most of the Councilmembers, because, according to anonymous City Hall sources, this scandal would have affected Bruce Guyton’s reelection bid in March if the truth came out prior to the election. Guyton admitted that he was aware of the degraded water system in a flyer he mailed out around the City, but conveniently failed to point out that, for the last three years, he has been obsessed with spending infrastructure dollars on the City marina redevelopment, and had blown off the water crisis!

Mayor Thomas Masters, usually quiet and reserved, became so alarmed by the “dirty water” that he called a special meeting of the City Council to address the situation. After having previously used his authority to suspend Aurigemma last year for misbehavior, the Mayor riled up the overflow crowd of angry citizens, as they both vented their anger at City Manager Jones and City Attorney Ryan. The crowd wanted heads to roll, and the first one out of the box was Aurigemma, who was immediately fired by City Manager Jones in her lame attempt to limit the collateral damage. City Councilmembers Kashamba Miller-Anderson and Terrence Davis were having none of Jones’ typical play of blaming everyone else but herself. In another special Council meeting held the next day, they tore apart Jones with the evidence that she had lied the prior evening. Jones’ lame excuse for not informing the Council that also sits as the utility district board, was that there was no meeting to inform them of the health department investigative findings and $10,000 fine. But a quick search on the City website revealed the video for the February 17th utility board meeting held six days after the City paid the $10,000 fine. Jones was caught in her bold faced lie, and Councilperson Miller-Anderson’s motion to suspend Jones for 30 days was passed unanimously. Many residents continued to express their disgust that City Attorney Ryan would put the public’s safety at risk by actively participating in the cover-up, and then demanded that the Council immediately terminate Ryan’s employment. Instead of accepting responsibility, Ryan instead whined incessantly that even though she knew about the scandal in January, it was not that big a deal? The Mayor called Ryan out by noting that Ryan only drinks bottled water while on the dais, and that it is a big deal to the vast majority of west side residents who cannot afford to do the same. The State of Florida Department of Environmental Protection also thought the City’s “dirty water” was a big deal, because it just levied a $25,000 fine on the City!

II. THE CORRUPT FLUBBERER GETS A GUN AND BADGE!

Former Riviera Beach Councilperson Cedrick “the flubberer” Thomas, a politician whose eight years on the Council were marked with numerous scandals, including a string of Palm Beach County Office of Inspector General Reports that found evidence of criminal misconduct, to include one report while he even worked at the City of South Bay, has again used his political influence for his personal benefit. According to City Hall sources, after seeing to it that his wife was hired by the City, Thomas doubled down and demanded that he be hired as a Riviera Beach police officer! City Manager Jones and Police Chief Williams were not going to put their careers on the line to challenge Thomas, so instead they quietly kowtowed to Thomas’s demand and hired him as an officer with a take home car. When the PBA police union learned of the hiring, it sent its representative to a Council meeting to express the union’s outrage. Their plea was blown off by City Manager Jones, after Thomas reminded Jones that he voted to renew her contract, and that it was a bad career move to cross the flubberer! The prior City Manager Bill Wilkins had made the mistake of crossing Thomas, and the result was that Thomas single handedly orchestrated Wilkins’ termination.

Thomas is an at-will employee on probation for his first year, and he can be fired without the City worrying about any legal consequences. Residents around the City are disgusted that Thomas is still on the City’s payroll, and the pressure is ramping up that he be terminated ASAP. At the end of the day, we can thank the three different State Attorneys over the last 7 years for wimping out and not criminally charging Thomas with corruption. On multiple occasions Thomas was served up on a silver platter by the OIG and others, but the politics of the State Attorney’s office of not wanting to alienate the City’s voting base by taking down Thomas took priority over justice.

It is unbelievable how “regular” Councilperson Bruce “the broke babbler” Guyton is in his timing as he once again “craps” on the City of Riviera Beach. Putting aside all the local merchants Guyton bounced his personal checks with, which he later had discharged in a federal bankruptcy proceeding, it is his complete disdain for legitimate businesses that want to grow and flourish in Riviera Beach that is even more shameful. Guyton and his comrade in corruption, Councilperson Cedrick “the flubberer” Thomas, slapped silly the Sancilio Pharmaceutical Company after it proposed to purchase the old dumpy warehouse (in the middle of nowhere) that the City wants to develop into a police headquarters at a cost of a cool $32 (thirty two) million. Wow, what a wonderful site for a City building, with railroad tracks running through the property and as the Mayor repeatedly has opined, nowhere near the hub of the City to allow for a timely police response to breaking crimes. Even though Sancilio’s existing facility employ hundreds of Riviera Beach residents, Guyton and Thomas dissented on the vote to sell the warehouse. The obvious reason, these two losers have a history of only voting for items that puts money directly in their pockets!

Old time Singer Island residents may remember the Ocean’s Eleven North nightclub on the Island. Guyton accepted at least $2,150 in cash and thousands of dollars of free food and liquor in exchange for his vote to pass a noise ordinance that would allow the nightclub to play outside music. Club Workers: Riviera Official Took Bribes, Palm Beach Post. A large pharmaceutical company is a much bigger whale to shakedown for some serious coin. As most of our readers already know, it was Guyton’s love of illegal drugs that ultimately got him in big trouble which then led to him being involuntarily committed by Palm Beach Judge Diana Lewis at the request of Guyton’s sister. Thus it was not surprising that Guyton appeared confused in trying to babble his way to understanding that if Sancilio is in the drug business, apparently how does that differ from your neighborhood crack dealer? The founder of the company, Mr. Frederick Sancilio, and his well-spoken wife Alex (who had a feisty exchange with Cedrick Thomas), each explained that their company had not only grown its operations in Riviera Beach, but was very close to releasing a cure for sickle-cell anemia! Mr. Sancilio stated that this revolutionary medicine would be manufactured at its Riviera Beach facility and that once it was released, it would bring name recognition for the City around the world. Unfortunately Mr. Sancilio, your inspiring brilliance and creativity might garner you a Nobel Prize in Medicine, but it sure is not going to get you any good will from the two shakedown Councilpersons. Guyton doesn’t give a damn about the City residents that elected him into office, and he could care less about the horrible blood disorder that affects “300,000 children born with the sickle-cell disease” every year! Wikipedia. That is just the reality of Riviera Beach politics.

Thomas is a broke bum who finally needs a real job after Viking drops out as the Marina Master Developer!

The bombshell of the night though, was the angry public comments by a police union spokesman who complained that Thomas was given a job as a police major at the Riviera Beach police department. This union leader explained how despicable it was that Thomas was going to leapfrog over other officers that had put in decades of hard work to even compete for a senior officer position and that Thomas was not qualified for the job. This union leader was passionate in his explanation that Thomas’ hiring would be terrible for police morale. No one on the dais seemed surprised, given that Thomas has a history of intimidating City staff to kowtow to his every demand; hell he even got his wife a job at the Clerk’s office. But the best was yet to come! After hitting up Singer Island residents for thousands of dollars at fundraisers that Dawn Pardo put together, Thomas abruptly terminated his reelection campaign! All those thousands of dollars cannot be returned to donors, per Florida election laws! Instead, Thomas can spend those funds on his personal needs that he will slough off as “legitimate campaign expenditures.” What is truly disgusting is that Pardo and Guyton were aware that Thomas was going to drop out of the race so that he could get his cushy job at the police department, but neither of them had the integrity to explain that to Singer Island residents before scamming them out of their hard earned dollars to support Thomas’ campaign!

Not a week can go by, without the Singer Island Civic Association (SICA) singing the praises of Riviera Beach Councilpersons Bruce “the broke babbler” Guyton and Cedrick “the flubberer” Thomas, whose combined financial history is one for the electoral record books: federal bankruptcy, foreclosures, loan defaults, bounced checks, and an executive order by Governor Scott fining Guyton for lying on his financial disclosure form by not disclosing a 19 year unpaid judgment (plus interest) that the Court entered against Guyton in the City’s favor. One would think that these fiscal failures would have caused the SICA board to profusely apologize to its members for recommending these two losers, but no, SICA refuses to do so. The question is why not, given that Guyton, Thomas, and their comrade in corruption, Dawn Pardo, again screwed the Riviera Beach taxpayers, by voting to renew the bogus Waste Management contract for another 5 years. These three Councilpersons, make that con artists, run around town doling out $90,000 of slush funds that Waste Management rebates the City from a contract that is $2,199,504.00 more than it should be. That is right, the City leaders voted to award a contract that cost the taxpayers another $2,199,504.00, than more than if the contact had been awarded to low bidder, Southern Waste System (SWS). The OIG investigated this total sham, Case Number 2012-0018 (available at http://www.pbcgov.com/oig/index.htm) and found the whole process to be unseemly. Singer Island residents should be in an uproar at the voting record of Guyton, Thomas and Pardo, who are continue continuing to deprive the Riviera Beach residents of over $2 million in garbage savings, just so they could run around spending their share of $90,000 to foster good will with voters in front of the March 2016 elections!

Not surprisingly, these three leadership losers were just getting started at the October 21, 2015, City Council meeting, as they introduced thee fourth generation of their “taxpayer triple spank.” One spank=$2.199 million (before rate increase) garbage contract renewal rip-off; second spank=another 2 year renewal of the incompetent City Manager Ruth Jones employment contact; third spank=approved spending another $17 million to rebuild a trashy warehouse, with train tracks running through the property, to be the new police headquarters in an industrial section of the City. At least Mayor Thomas Masters stayed true to his form, and lambasted the City for needlessly squandering $17 million on a facility in the wrong part of town, that would never meet the City’s needs. Master stated that he had over 2000 residents who would sign a referendum petition to try and stop the “lunacy” of converting this warehouse into a half-ass City facility. Ruth Jones has been a source of frustration and disgust by Singer Island residents for her lack of leadership as evidenced by multiple Palm Beach County Office of Inspector General Reports (OIG) that found fraud and waste. Rarely does any Singer Island resident come to City Council meetings to complain, but after the a 2014 OIG Report found Dolphin game tickets, steak dinners, $24,000 in leases on expensive cars for a City department head who already had a City take home vehicle, and other improper spending totaling over $800,000, a firestorm of anger was unleashed by the new attendees at the following City Council meeting.

ANOTHER POLICE SHOOTING- ANOTHER YOUNG BLACK LIFE SNUFFED OUT, THIS TIME WHILE WAITING FOR A TOW TRUCK!!

The true character of a politician’s soul is only reflected during a community’s time of crisis. Mayor Masters, along with Councilpersons Kashamba Miller-Anderson, and Terrence Davis, attended the October 26, 2015, memorial rally at the Hilltop Baptist Church in Riviera Beach to honor the life of Mr. Cory Jones. Shamefully, the self-absorbed Guyton, Thomas and Pardo were nowhere to be seen, at this rally or the other two that were held in front of the Palm Beach Gardens police department and the State attorney’s office. For those who may have missed the non-stop local and national media coverage about Corey, he was a young black man, a well-known musician and all around good guy, whose car broke down on the I-95 PGA Boulevard exit ramp. Cory was on his was home in the early morning hours of October 18, 2015, after returning from playing a gig with his band, the Future Prezidents. While Corey waited for a tow truck, Officer Nouman Raja, an on duty, plain clothes police officer with the Palm Beach Gardens Police Department, pulled up in his unmarked police vehicle, and blocked in Corey’s car. Raja then fired six shots at Corey, striking him three times and killing him on the spot. Raja admitted doing so without first displaying a police badge or calling for backup, according to Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg.

The horrific and senseless nature of this recent police shooting of a young black male, once again stoked local and national anger. Palm Beach County has been very fortunate that the violence that erupted in Ferguson, Mississippi, after a grand jury failed to indict the white police officer who shot and killed an unarmed black 18-year-old, has been tempered, for now. Aronberg’s charging decision will prove to be critical, with riots a real possibility if he refuses to charge Raja with involuntary manslaughter. The County’s first black prosecutor, Judge, and Chief Judge, the Honorable Edward Rogers tried to defuse the impact of Aronberg’s decision, by demanding at the public rally held in front of the State Attorney’s office that the Corey case be transferred to an independent prosecutor. Aronberg ignored the Judge Rogers’ request; only time will tell if that was a smart decision.

Another hurricane free weather year has not been the case on the local, county, and national political fronts. As we wrap up 2015, it is time to batten down the hatches, because 2016 is already churning up to a CAT 5!

September, 2015 Issue

Cedrick Thomas, Bruce Guyton, and Dawn Pardo Vote to raise Riviera Beach Property Taxes and increase Stormwater Sewer rates by 100% while at the same time giving themselves a $12,000 Pay Raise!

The Singer Island Civic Association should re-think its support for the two corrupt losers, Cedrick “The Flubberer” Thomas and Bruce “The Broke Babbler” Guyton, whose combined financial history includes federal bankruptcy, foreclosures, loan defaults, and bounced checks. Bruce Guyton was bequeathed his mother’s house at 1247 West 26th Street and after he somehow piled on $140,000 dollars in debt on his house that is only assessed at $30,000, his bank filed foreclosure after receiving no payments for 2 ½ years. Guyton magically worked things out with the bank and it dropped its foreclosure lawsuit at the same time Guyton was elected to office. Hmmm, something about the timing of that settlement smells fishy. But more important to the residents of Singer Island, Guyton pays a whopping $289 in property tax. Let’s spell that out so no one thinks that is a typo: Two Hundred and Eight Nine dollars!

It is easy for Guyton to laugh off the exorbitant tax burdens of Singer Island residents. Guyton has concocted a rambling commentary that, since a bunch of white, rich, gay folks live on the island, they must have more money. Accordingly, who cares if they pay more taxes, because there is not a damn thing they (Singer Island residents) can do about it, as long as he is in office. Cedrick Thomas, another comrade in corruption, is also a financial loser, who defaulted on a $200,000 business loan, and has a problem paying his property taxes that are a whopping $645! Again that is Six Hundred and Forty Five dollars! Realizing the severe personal financial hardship that these TINY TAX bills impose, Guyton and Thomas solicited the help of Dawn “the dictator” Pardo. Their answer, was to vote themselves a PAY RAISE a couple weeks ago! These three financial nitwits sit on the City Utility District Board, a simple job that meets maybe 10 times a year for 30 minutes at a time. That 5 hours a year is a lot of hard work, because sitting in the Council Chambers, can be one tough job! Guyton, Thomas, and Pardo decided they could not sit on the utility board, notwithstanding the exorbitant salary and benefits that they already reap from being elected officials, unless they were paid more money. So these slimeballs went ahead and did what they always do, they dumped on the taxpayers and voted themselves a $12,000 a year stipend for their five hours of meeting each year! Now that works out to $2400 an hour, again Two Thousand Four Hundred dollars an hour to sit on the City utility board that was already included in their responsibilities as an elected official!

The only reason that Guyton, Thomas and Pardo voted for their $12,000 yearly “stipend,” is to cheat the City Charter. Their $12,000 stipend is an increase in their yearly take-home salary, but a salary increase is prohibited pursuant to the City Charter without a vote of approval by the City residents. By their sleazing a vote of approval for a stipend, they can feign ignorance to everyone that asks that it is not the same as a salary increase. Their B.S. game is not going over well, and there is an uproar around the City about the slimy stunt these three loser played! Apparently these three wanted to vote themselves a $75,000 pay raise, but there was no way to get around the charter restriction on salary increase. One reason for the limitation in the City Charter is so the residents have a way to hold in check elected officials whose only goal in office is to line their pockets!

After giving themselves their $12,000 pay raise, these three elected losers last week approved the 2nd Highest Property Tax Millage rate in Palm Beach County and the doubling of the Stormwater Residential Unit Rate from $4.50 to $9.00 an ERU! This is a serious financial hardship for seniors on fixed income budgets, because at the same time they are being hit up with a property tax increase! Social Security benefits have not doubled in the last year, and will not double in the next 20 years. Yet residents’ taxes along with water and sewer fees are dramatically outpacing the Social Security cost of living adjustment (COLA)!

By next year, Riviera Beach will be ranked #1 in the County with the highest tax millage rate, to compliment the City’s #1 ranking as the most dangerous City in Florida, and sadly the 20th most dangerous City in the nation! The Riviera Beach City motto is that it is “the best waterfront city to work, live and play?” I wonder if Guyton wrote that jingle, prior to him being involuntarily committed for a mental evaluation, by Palm Beach Judge Diana Lewis, at the request of Guyton’s sister Patricia Anderson. Again, it is shameful that the Singer Island Civic Association leadership raised money and shoved Guyton, Thomas and Pardo to the forefront with their slick campaign tactics and poll workers! Where would this City be if SICA’s leadership had not campaigned and promoted these three losers? For starters, we would have had honest politicians in office the last eight years that would have lowered property taxes, sewer and water rates, and not paid themselves a $12,000 stipend.

Island residents are so disgusted with the repeated financial fraud and misconduct uncovered by the Palm Beach County Office of Inspector General, that a new group has emerged to once again lobby the State legislature for approval to secede from the Riviera Beach mainland and become a part of Palm Beach Gardens. Guyton’s response is that the City will charge a toll to go over the Blue Heron bridge and turn off the water going to the Island. The response from the secession group is that a new water pipe can come from the north side of the island, and there is no need to use the Blue Heron bridge. The mainland can always thank Pardo for her outstanding leadership that the constituents in her own district want to break away from Riviera Beach.

Speaking of Pardo, there is a dark side to her personality of which many mainland residents are not aware of. Pardo sent me two emails with racist overtones, which should disgust all City residents. Pardo wrote that the black girlfriend of former Riviera Beach City Councilperson Jim Jackson was a “crackhead whore love bunny,” and that former Councilperson Norma Duncombe was a “dumbass” who did not have the brains to be an elected official. How in the world in a City that is 70% black, did Pardo the “white dictator” get elected again as the City Council Chairperson? It is incredible that “prepare to puke” Pardo was able to put her superiority aside for a few minutes, and suck up to her delinquent power base, Guyton and Thomas, to get their two votes to again be the Chairperson for a third time.

Councilpersons Kashamba Miller and Terrence Davis voted against the increased millage rate, the bloated budget, the doubling of the stormwater rate, and Pardo being the Chair. It is refreshing that Miller and Davis have the proven integrity to serve in public office. All it will take is one more honest politician, to reign in the out of control City budget and restore the residents’ faith in their City hall that it is no longer a corrupt den of thieves!

It is imperative for the future of Riviera Beach that Cedrick Thomas and Bruce Guyton be thrown out of office in the coming March 2016 elections. There are many candidates running, and every single one whom I have interviewed is also disgusted with the increase property taxes, the doubling of the storm water sewer rates, and the $12,000 stipend. As Mark Twain famously said, “politicians and diapers must be changed for the same reason.” It will take a hazmat team to clean up the pile of shitty diapers, along with the mountain of debt, that is the legacy of Guyton’s and Thomas’ terms in office.

Riviera Beach’s perpetually embarrassing political slimeball, the corrupt and dysfunctional Councilperson Bruce Guyton, was slapped by Governor Rick Scott in an executive order for violating State ethics rules. Guyton was fined by the State of Florida for not disclosing on his 2013, pre-election Financial Disclosure Form, that the City of Riviera Beach had obtained a monetary judgment against him. The judgment was obtained in a legal action filed by a former City Council back in the year 1996. Guyton’s final judgment order, signed by County Circuit Judge William A. Bollinger, is valued at around $5,000, and continues to gather daily interest. The problem for the taxpayers is that the judgment is only good for 20 years, and will expire in May 2016.

Riviera Beach City Attorney Pamala “Lyin’ and Cryin’” Ryan is aware that Guyton’s judgment will timeout, but since Guyton is Ryan’s BFF (Best Friend Forever), she has steadfastly refused to collect on the judgment. This is nothing new for Ryan; she is a political animal first, and second and third and fourth, ad infinitum. A rcview of Ryan’s daily work product shows that her focus is on whose ass does she kiss first, Guyton, or Councilperson Thomas and Pardo? Not surprisingly, these three corrupt losers were the deciding votes that just renewed Ryan’s contract.

The City residents know too well, that Guyton is a manic, obsessive freak with a history of mental problems. For example, Guyton was involuntarily committed for mental and drug issues by Palm Beach County Judge Diana Lewis, on a complaint filed by Gutyon’s sister Patricia Anderson. Ryan gets off by fueling Guyton’s mania with false and defamatory information that she provides him to attack City residents. Forgetting Guyton’s constant verbal attacks against me, at multiple meetings in May, Guyton was foaming at the mouth when he launched into blabbering, vitriolic tirades to try and intimidate Councilperson Kashamba Miller and her legislative aide, Ms. Tina White, from doing their jobs.

It is imperative that the residents understand that Guyton collects a City salary each week, but he still refuses to pay his outstanding City judgment! The March 2016 elections are just around the corner, and the voters can once and for all kick Guyton and Thomas out of office, along with demanding that their new replacements fire Ryan, City Manager Ruth Jones, and Assistant City Manager Danny Jones. Riviera Beach taxpayers must demand that their tax dollars go to pay competent professionals that have the integrity to serve with Councilpersons Kashamba Miller and Terrence Davis, the only elected officials in the last decade that have the proven character and honesty to serve in public office.

December 30, 2013 Issue

DON’T LET THEM TAKE YOUR RIVIERA BEACH MARINA—AGAIN!

Another New Year, another new scam. That is the way it goes with the elected scum in Corruption County (i.e. Palm Beach County). Riviera Beach elected officials have taken it to another level. Councilpersons Dawn Pardo, Cedrick Thomas, Judy Davis, along with the bankrupt sleazeball Bruce Guyton, keep running for elected office for one simple reason: to take away the City marina and give it to their pal and financial supporter, Viking Yachts. Second to that, their object is gaming the system to do the least work as possible, collect their City salary, travel benefits, car allowance, cell phone stipend, and any other “perks” of office, along with hitting the Riviera Beach marina Tiki Bar up for free meals and drinks. To get elected, they needed to cut a deal with the devil. And the devil was a firm named Viking Yachts that builds luxury boats. Viking’s customers needed a place to park their luxury boats, and the Riviera Beach City marina was the ideal place. So forgive me if you know the history. In 2006 the City signed over the City marina as part of a 2.4 billion dollar redevelopment project that was going to use eminent domain to take thousands of homes and businesses and give them to Viking. That plan failed, but a new evil plan to give away the marina and create a hazardous waste zone was born. So, “let’s build an industrial boatyard at our recreational City marina,” became their mantra.

A group of determined citizens rose up and fought this industrial boatyard. The boatyard plan was spearheaded by Riviera Beach Councilpersons Dawn “the Dictator” Pardo. This time, Viking and the mega yacht repair company Rybovich (owned by Huizenga), were to take over the City marina. Pardo, whose ties to Viking extended to accepting bundled campaign contributions and flying around on Viking’s private jet, was in a frenzy trying to get the votes to defeat our referendum to stop the city marina from being coverted into an industrial boatyard. Pardo’s efforts failed because our group of civic activists, spearheaded by Emma Bates, Andrew Byrd, and myself, defeated Pardo’s boatyard polluting redevelopment giveaway. After whining to the Courts in multiple failed appeals to get our referendum overturned, Pardo’s giveway plan has risen from the ashes like a phoenix. Pardo, along with her scammy colleagues, have placed another referendum on the March 2014 ballot to try and overturn our 2010 referendum and thereby give away the City marina to Viking for the next 50 years. This most recent giveaway includes a sweetheart lease that will again privatize the marina, and leave the taxpayers holding the bag.

We need everyone to vote to stop this latest marina giveaway scam to Viking Yachts. I honor the late, great Donna Summer, with my latest ditty, sung to the tune commonly known as “Enough is Enough (No More Tears).”

If you’ve had enough, tell Pardo to shove her stuff, Don’t let her do it, If you’ve had your fill, Don’t let the taxpayers pay the bill, You can do it.

Tell Pardo and Guyton to just get out, Nothing left to vote about, Pack their bags and recall them out, Just look them in the eyes and simply shout.

ENOUGH is ENOUGH is ENOUGH, We can’t go on, we can’t go on, no more no, ENOUGH is ENOUGH is ENOUGH, We want them out, we want them out of office now.

There’s nothing left for Pardo here, And let’s not waste another year. ENOUGH is ENOUGH is ENOUGH,

VOTE DOWN The MARINA GIVEAWAY!!!

October 28, 2013 Issue

THE REAL BRUCE GUYTON - - UNDERSTANDING THE MULTIPLE FACETS OF GUYTON’S LIFE AS A THIEF, LIAR, DRUG ABUSER, AND MENTALLY UNSTABLE INDIVIDUAL WITH A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE.

BRUCE GUYTON WAS ARRESTED FOR STEALING MONEY OUT OF THE CASH REGISTER AT “CHECKERS DRIVE IN’ RESTAURANT.

Below is the criminal case history for Guyton’s arrest for “Grand Theft

Guyton has always been a pathological liar. Nor surprisingly, Guyton even lied on his employment application for his current Palm Beach County job at the Palm Tran public bus department. Guyton explains, in his own handwriting, that he quit working at Checkers Drive In restaurant because he “did not enjoy the fast food industry” and that his leaving was VOLUNTARY! Guyton signed his employment application attesting that “all statements and information ….given in this application are true.” The problem though, is that Guyton was arrested for Grant Theft and fired as an assistant manager at Checkers. Guyton lied when he checked the box YES, that he left his job “Voluntary.” The taxpayers of Palm Beach County should demand that the Country Administrator Bob Weisman enforce the terms of Guyton’s employment application and immediately terminate Guyton, for cause.

BRUCE GUYTON SCAMS THE RIVIERA BEACH TAXPAYERS FOR THE LAST 17 YEARS!

A final judgment was issued against Guyton, and in favor of the City of Riviera Beach, on May 9, 1996, for $1948.00. This judgment is to bear interest at the legal rate, until it is paid off. There is no record that Guyton has ever paid this final judgment The question than arises, why has the City council not authorized a legal action to garnish Guyton’s council salary until he pays off his judgment, plus interest, to the City? Guyton is a complete and utter financial deadbeat, who does not have the maturity to comprehend the fiscal responsibility that is required of a public official.

Final Judgement issued for $1,948.00

ONCE A FINANCIAL DEADBEAT, ALWAYS A FINANCIAL DEADBEAT.

Guyton bounces a check on Any Times Checks, Inc., and then five months later declares bankruptcy in federal court.

The below filings, speak for themselves. These documents, recorded in the official records of Palm Beach County, also reinforce the evidence that Guyton does not have the maturity to make decisions involving millions of taxpayers dollars, when he goes around bouncing checks for only $500. The taxpayers deserve a public servant that is honest and will be accountable in spending their tax dollars in a fiscally responsible manner. The evidence is irrefutable, Guyton’s lack of integrity in his personal financial dealings with vendors in the community should have disqualified him from ever being considered as a credible candidate for the Riviera Beach City Council. If the voters were aware that Guyton handled his personal financial affairs, in the same responsible manner as a five year old child, Guyton never would have passed the laugh test and would not have been elected. Shame on those in the community who knew Guyton’s past, but for their own personal financial reasons, supported this deadbeat for office to push their agenda.

For example, why did the former South Bay City Manager Cory Alston, who was arrested on multiple corruption charges and is awaiting trial, give Guyton $1000 for his election campaign? Alston is registered as a lobbyist in Riviera Beach. What projects is Alston lobbying for, and how is Guyton voting on them? Time will tell if Guyton is once again playing his “Pay to Play” corruption game.

THE PALM BEACH POST LAID IT ALL OUT IN BLACK AND WHITE. Guyton is the #1 political slimeball in Palm Beach County and a danger to the community!

The Palm Beach Post did multiple investigations into Guyton, and what they came up with during Guyton’s first stint as a Riviera Beach Council person is both shocking and disgusting. Guyton “gets off” beating the crap out of defenseless women, uses illegal drugs, drives drunk and flaunts his official office to have a dishonest Riviera Beach cop scurry him away so that he will not be charged with DUI, accepts illegal bribes, and violates the Sunshine law for starters. It makes one shake their head in disbelief, that this total slimeball was not locked up years ago? The editorials and story below are directly from the Palm Beach Post web archives and should have been required reading for any voter in the last election.

Guyton and his psychotic legislative assistant, Ms. Sylvia Blue, have repeatedly threatened me with physical violence. Ms. Blue has upped the ante, with repeated death threats that she has made to me at City hall and from the speakers podium. Ms. Blue even came to the City marina when I lived on my floating home, and told me, screaming at the top of her lungs, that I would be found dead under it.

It is hard to believe that it’s been almost two years since Pamala “Lyin’ and Cryin’” Ryan had her contract renewed. In 2011, by a 3 to 2 vote, the City Council, with Dawn Pardo being the swing vote, voted to renew Ryan’s contract. Now in 2013, the Council doesn’t even want to conduct its mandatory performance evaluation of Ryan, but instead is trying to slide Ryan’s new contract through without shedding light on two huge losses suffered by the City at the U.S. Supreme Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. It is truly shameful that the Council has ignored the majority of residents’ wishes, along with the thoughtful analysis of the Palm Beach Post and Palm Beach Sun, all of which agree that Ryan should have been fired years ago. Even Dawn Pardo stated in 2008 that Ryan should be fired, yet Pardo surprisingly has wimped out every time Ryan’s contact has come up for renewal.

Ryan and three members of the current City council (Dawn Pardo, Judy Davis and Cedrick Thomas) had no problem spending whatever public money was necessary, without any public hearing or vote, coordinating the state and federal legal actions that removed my floating home from the Riviera Beach marina. For those of you new to my column, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in my favor in January that my floating home did not come under federal jurisdiction, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit reinstated my civil rights case against the City to include not only the retaliatory arrests of my floating home, but also the false arrests of me. My civil rights trial is expected to take three or four weeks, and will involve all the Council members as individually named defendants, in both the retaliatory state eviction along with the federal admiralty arrest of my floating home. I will be seeking damages from these current and past Council members for which they are individually liable.

Ryan stands alone, as the one of the most incompetent and evil City employees in Riviera Beach. Ryan gloated at me, her #1 snowflake, while she directed, at the Council’s request, that all my furniture and my floating home be destroyed. The law firms that she has selected have not won any major legal battles against me, but she laughs off the reported million plus dollars in legal fees that she has squandered to the taxpayers’ expense as being no big deal. What is more amazing, is that she continues to brainwash the City Council to stay with these two law firms, Roberts, Reynolds, Bedard and Tuzzio, along with Hamilton, Miller and Birthisel whose legal abilities have been dismal to say the least. This is Ryan’s modus operandi. She consistently attempts to cover-up her incompetence, lack of legal ability, and dismal track record by false bravado and not telling the truth. Residents are still amazed that there has not been the spontaneous combustion of Ryan’s pants from all the lies that she spews. One wonders if Ryan was taunted as a child with the phrase “liar, liar, pants on fire” and it somehow became ingrained in her personality?

To recap some of the “lowlights” of Ryan’s tenure as attorney would take up a couple columns of space. Some of the more egregious ones are: In a transcript of a closed door meeting of the City Council, Ryan stated that it was fine to expend taxpayer funds to hire a private investigator to follow me and Governor Jeb Bush around! She spent over $120,000 arguing that the Sunshine law does not require written minutes (a written recap) to be kept of public meetings even though the law clearly required the City to do so, as the Fourth District Court of Appeals confirmed. Ryan was the brains behind the City of Riviera Beach suing the Palm Beach County State Attorney in an expensive and ludicrous attempt to stop the State Attorney from getting the transcript of a January 2011 closed door meeting of the City Council where it was alleged the Sunshine law was violated. Ryan was responsible for causing pain and suffering to a woman stricken with cancer when she, with the City council’s blessing, authorized the electricity to her boat at the City marina to be turned off in an illegal self-help eviction. This caused the spoiling of a bone marrow injection in the boat refrigerator and, because the woman did not have the financial means to replace the medicine, her mobility was damaged. Ryan’s heartless and sick behavior almost resulted in the death of a number of dogs, when she again approved, with the blessing of the City council, other self-help evictions that turned the electricity off to boats that used air conditioning and fans to cool their pets during hot summer days.

Ryan does have one rabid supporter, new Councilperson Bruce Guyton. Ryan fawns over Guyton because he personally sued one of Ryan’s biggest nemeses, City Clerk Carrie Ward, along with the City of Riviera Beach, current Councilperson Terence Davis, and Elizabeth Robinson on February 25, 2013. On March 6, 2013, Judge Glenn Kelley denied Guyton’s frivolous motion for an emergency injunction. It makes one wonder, since Guyton was broke at the time and in foreclosure, who funded that legal battle?

The consensus from those who have witnessed Guyton spew his endless rantings at the first few City and CRA meetings, is that he is even a bigger blowhard than former Mayor Brown. Guyton who likes to hear himself talk and talk and talk some more, then rambles on about how he is such a big shot because he pays taxes to the city. For the record Guyton lives in a house that is appraised at $28,000 and he pays a whopping $268 (two hundred and sixty eight dollars) in property taxes. Guyton was also sued for foreclosure in September 2012 by U.S. Bank, Case No. 502012CA016830. The burning question in many residents’ minds is where did Guyton come up with the money in March 2013 to settle the foreclosure? Did it have anything to do with his election? Curious minds will find out in the coming month.

Until then, the City of Riviera Beach rambles down the same dismal legal road. Loss after loss, with excuse after excuse, and no end in sight. A constant reminder of Ryan’s teflon façade that continues to slide off questions about her horrible job performance. The city deserves much better than Ryan, whose vindictive and incompetent ramblings are a continual embarrassment to the City and fodder for the media.

January 21, 2013 Issue

VICTORY AT LAST!

U.S. Supreme Court rules 7 to 2 in favor of Fane Lozman and sinks the City of Riviera Beach

On April 20, 2009, three armed U.S. Marshals broke down the door to my floating home at the Riviera Beach marina. I told the Marshals that they had no federal authority to seize my floating home because I had already won a state eviction jury trial and that only the State Court could order my floating home removed from the marina. After patting me down, the Marshal in charge told me to stand back, and I watched in horror and anger as my primary homesteaded residence was towed to Miami. Ten months later, the City destroyed my floating home and City Attorney Pamala “lyin and cryin” Ryan, along with the City Council laughed and gloated about it. Ryan, an evil and nasty bully, was a great motivator along with the corrupt City Council, on my long road to the U.S. Supreme Court. I did not care how much of my personal time it would take, or how much it would cost, or how long it would take, I vowed that I would get justice. Justice finally came, in the form of a 15-page U.S. Supreme Court opinion issued January 15, 2013, and authored by Justice Stephen Breyer. The opinion, available at www.fanelozman.com, was notable for its easy to read style, detailed analysis and one memorable section that showed why federal admiralty law did not apply to my floating home. Justice Breyer wrote:

"Not every floating structure is a “vessel.” To state the obvious, a wooden washtub, a plastic dishpan, a swimming platform on pontoons, a large fishing net, a door taken off its hinges, or Pinocchio (even when inside the whale) are not 'vessels'"

The most important part of the opinion appeared on page 15:

"For theses reasons, the judgment of the Court of Appeals is reversed. It is so ordered."

Between the state eviction and the federal admiralty arrest of my floating home the City spent over $600,000 of taxpayer money to oust me from the City marina. I tried to bond out my floating home and furniture, but the City fought my attempt, and instead directed that my floating home be purchased at a U.S. Marshal auction and immediately destroyed at taxpayer expense. The City was not obligated in any way to purchase my floating home; it simply outbid the public that attended because the City Council wanted the vindictive pleasure of destroying it. The City ignored the money that it would have received from the auction proceeds if it allowed a member of the public to win the auction rather than be the successful bidder. Now the City will have to reimburse for the value of my floating home, my furniture, and my legal bills, which are substantial.

The City’s decision to play God by turning off the electricity to my floating home, along with other marina tenants demands a criminal investigation. Two friends of mine were directly affected by the City’s actions. Cindy Frye had her bone marrow injection spoil due to a lack of refrigeration and as a result her mobility was permanently damaged. A Navy veteran and all around great guy, “Budweiser Bill,” severely suffered from the lack of air conditioning and creature comforts on his boat. Shortly before Bill died, he told me that his lack of electricity played a role in his lack of sleep at night and ill health.

The City’s elected and appointed officials need to be held accountable by the taxpayers for spending what will be well over a million dollars to silence me, solely because I exercised my constitutional rights of free speech. It is unconscionable that the City is laying off and having furlough days for employees because of funding concerns, while spending unlimited sums of money to silence anyone that fights the corruption in our City. Ryan is an incompetent disgrace to the City and the legal profession. The former Chief Judge of Palm Beach County, the Honorable Edward Rogers, has repeatedly stated that Ryan is incompetent and should be fired. The current City Commission needs to be voted out of office, and State and Federal prosecutors need to wrap up their ongoing investigations into Cedrick “the flubberer” Thomas so that he can be removed from office, albeit through the criminal justice system.

So as I hold my head up high, with my lovable dachshund at my side, my U.S. Supreme Court victory shows that one man can make a difference. One man can fight for justice and win against a corrupt city government. So I ask my fellow citizens to stand tall with me and finish my fight to rid our City of our evil and corrupt City leaders.

Finally, after a 2-year wait, the long anticipated Palm Beach version of the O. J. Simpson case was tried, but this time the celebrity defendant was slapped silly by the jury. John Goodman was found guilty of DUI Manslaughter and Vehicular Homicide, both with the Special Circumstances of Failure to Render Aid.

Goodman was drunk when he ran a stop sign and crashed his Bentley into a Hyundai, killing the young driver, Scott Wilson. Wilson’s smashed car flipped into a canal and he slowly drowned while Goodman walked away from the scene. Goodman was remanded into custody awaiting the Court’s sentencing and is looking at between 11½ to 30 years in the big house.

Goodman had it all, a lifestyle that revolved around his polo empire, with enormous wealth that always put him in the top tier of Palm Beach’s rich and famous. He also had the serious coin to hire nationally renowned criminal attorney, Roy Black, whose legal accomplishments include obtaining an acquittal for William Kennedy Smith on rape charges back in 1991.

A dazzling performance during closing argument by Palm Beach Assistant State Attorney Sherri Collins sealed Goodman’s fate and should cause Black to contemplate his retirement. At least Black has a high seven-figure pay day to show for his courtroom loss! Collins’ performance as “second chair” was critical to Goodman’s guilty verdict, in light of the jury’s apparent issues with lead prosecutor, Ellen Roberts. Roberts, a senior prosecutor who is retiring this month, was sternly cautioned by the Judge to stop making faces at the jury after the jury forwarded him a note about Roberts’ strange behavior. Roberts had some key positive moments during the trial, but her screeching style reminded some of fingernails dragging across a chalk board.

It was Collins who pulled no punches in a closing argument that impressed even jaded, veteran courthouse observers. What made her argument so persuasive was the brilliant use of three visuals: a liquor bottle with blue liquor, a “shot” glass, and a “rocks” glass (glass tumbler used for serving an alcoholic beverage with ice cubes). Collins demonstrated by simply pouring the blue liquor into a one ounce shot glass, how much volume of liquor makes up an ounce. Surprisingly, it is not much at all! This demonstration made it easy for Collins to “visually” educate the jury into understanding what a “free-pour” was. This is a drink made without a measuring device. Instead, a liquor or spirit is simply poured into a glass, with the bartender arbitrarily determining what looks like a good height relative to the top of the glass. The celebrity bartenders who were pouring drinks at the White Horse Tavern where Goodman patronized at prior to the accident, were free-pouring. When Collins poured the blue liquor from the shot glass into the rock’s glass, it was astounding how low the height was of the one shot to both the top of the glass, and what one would expect to be an appropriate height for a “decent” size drink. A decent or the next step up, a “stiff” drink, can easily be 4 or 5 ounces. So, when Goodman stated that he only had four drinks prior to the accident, based on the free-pour technique, it could be the equivalent of 12, 16 or 20 ounces of alcohol. For toxicology purposes according to Collins, one drink is equal to one ounce of 100 proof liquor, five ounces of table wine or 12 ounces of beer.

Mr. Tate Yeatman, a forensic toxicology expert with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s office, had previously testified that Goodman had the equivalent of 16 to 18 drinks in the hours leading up to the fatal crash. Three hours after the crash, Goodman’s blood alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit. The old saying that a picture is worth a thousand words is a little on the low side. In this case, a simple “rocks” glass with blue liquor appears to be worth at least 3,650 days behind bars for Goodman.

Collins continued to tie the facts together throughout her closing argument, explaining how Goodman’s behavior after the accident occurred was inexcusable as she succinctly reminded the jury that a young man died as a result. She told them that Goodman “called his friend, and she had to talk him into calling 911. If the defendant had rendered aid, Scott Wilson would have lived.”

Collins has a gift for cutting through all the endless legal verbiage that takes place during a trial. She explained a simple truth that rang loud and clear throughout the courtroom, “no one has the right to violate the laws that we all share.” Collins closed by reminding the jury that “he [Goodman] didn’t do any of the things that are required by law and, ladies and gentlemen, there is no excuse for that.” What more needed to be said? Collins cemented her legacy as a legal superstar, a rare breed among assistant State Attorneys around South Florida.

For my fans who have followed my prior stories about the former State Attorney, a.k.a. the fearless wonderboy, it was refreshing to see a prosecutor win a big case. I was very impressed with Collins’s performance so I called her up and she graciously agreed to an interview. I recently sat down with Collins at her offices across the street from the main Palm Beach Court House to ask her a few questions about the Goodman trial and to understand what it takes to be a successful violent crimes/homicide prosecutor. The first thing I learned is that one must have an overwhelming passion for public service. Collins has been a prosecutor for over 20 years and has tried 260 jury trials. A graduate of the University of Florida law school, she became a prosecutor for the constant challenges that it offered her inquisitive legal mind. Although Collins told me she could have transitioned into the private sector years ago and made “millions as a criminal attorney,” she still loves her job so much that being rich couldn’t sway her from her continuing mission of public service. Collins even married the man of her dreams, a fellow public servant his entire career, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, South Regional Director, Chuck Collins. Given her success in putting away “bad guys,” her husband’s proficiency with firearms as a State law enforcement officer gives her peace of mind away from the job.

Collins has taken on a second role as the newly appointed director of legal training and education. A steady stream of new prosecutors continually interrupted our interview with questions about motions and responses from pending criminal cases. Seeing Collins in action there, she reminded me of the equivalent of a legal hard drive, a few terabytes of walking case law and motion practice that can simultaneously answer the newbie’s question while explaining to me the technical basics of forensic science.

When it came to the Goodman case, Collins said that the “facts were very strong” and that much hard work went into the investigation. As an example, Collins showed me some photographs of the level of detail it took to document each of Goodman’s boot prints from the crash scene all the way to the trailer where he called 911. Collins was proud of the team effort and said that “factually the Palm Beach Sheriff’s traffic-homicide investigators did a phenomenal job.”

Collins expressed continuing surprise by all the national media hype focused on the Goodman trial. There has always been an insatiable public appetite for the fabulously rich who have done wrong. The prosecution of Goodman, a multi-millionaire who adopted his girlfriend (making her eligible for a share of a $300 million trust for his biological children), left the scene of an accident to head to a mystery “man cave,” was a case made for the tabloids and cable television news. Throw in the death, by drowning, of the young man whose inexpensive car was smashed and pushed into the canal by Goodman’s Bentley convertible, and Palm Beach County has an instant candidate for the South Florida celebrity case of the 21st Century.

When it comes to DUI trials, Collins says that she has seen it all, yet one case really stood out that puts the horror of driving under the influence in stark perspective. She told me about a woman whose husband was dying at a hospital. The woman called her daughter and son, who immediately drove up with the son’s wife and five month old child, all in the same vehicle. Tragically, all four of them were killed by a drunk driver before they ever were able to give their last goodbyes at their father’s bedside. Collins summed up this case with a warning to those who do not believe in a designated driver after a night on the town: “Every DUI is a DUI manslaughter that didn’t happen because of sheer luck.”

As John Goodman learned the hard way, money will not buy you a “get out of jail card” if Sherri Collins is sitting at the prosecution table. Goodman’s defense team should have taken a plea deal in lieu of suffering an embarrassing and costly failure, both in million of dollars in legal fees and years in jail for Goodman. The lesson